In the middle of October, less than a week after Fall Study Days, a long weekend at SLC dedicated to "studying", the Northeast was hit by Hurricane Sandy. After Hurricane Irene on moving day, I felt less rattled by the prospect of endless wind and rain, as well as loss of heat and hot water. Also, when it comes to the weather forecast, one can never be completely sure. For example, a few weeks ago the school brazed for another snowstorm but ended up receiving none. Due to a lack of certainty, I went with a theatre class to The Public Theatre in The City to watch The Giant, starring Kate Baldwin, P. J. Griffith and Brian D'Arcy James in the morning of the storm. Afterwards, we raced to Grand Central to take one of the last trains back to campus.
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A Scanned Copy of the Article Edition: November 5-11, 2012 |
Nevertheless, soon the excitement dissolved and I was left reading a book for class with a flashlight since the power seized. Following the event, I was approached by Majalah Nova, an Indonesian magazine, to write an article about Sandy. At the time, I was writing regularly for Speak!, a sister magazine of Jakarta Post. Yet, I did not have an abundance of publications and experience as I do now. So, I began writing out of wilderness and instinct. Though it felt daunting at first, I slowly eased into this conversation with the page. Back then, I lacked the confidence to directly write in Bahasa Indonesia, the language of choice for Majalah Nova, so I opted to write an original draft in English, before having someone at the magazine translate it for publication.
Since, only the Bahasa Indonesia version has seen the light of day. I decided to post the English version here. To be honest, comparing articles in two languages is an affinity I can't shake off.
Sandy Knockin’
On My Window
Sandy knocks on my window all night
long. Unlike house intruders who could be repelled by a ghoulish Halloween mask
or a lost squirrel who could be pushed off by a broom, Sandy is a “historical”
force of nature that definitely does not take no for an answer. Maybe I should
back up for a second. Like most of my friends at Sarah Lawrence College, a
liberal arts, 4-year college located 30 minutes away from the heart of New York
City, I first heard of Sandy’s planned appearance on Thursday, October 25. A
college sophomore and survivor of 2011’s Hurricane Irene, I didn’t think twice
about the storm. A few branches will fall and power may go out, but nothing
major is going to happen. After all, I have water, food, flashlights, and
batteries in my dorm room.
Daughter of an ex-Pramuka mother and grandchild of a former army pharmacist, I have been trained to have an emergency backpack and a survivalist
mentality ready to go. Fortunately, my underestimation of Sandy did not put me
in danger. On Sunday night, I arrived back on campus just in time before
lock-down. Earlier in the day, I had gone to New York City to watch a musical
with a few friends. Most days, I am not the daredevil college student that I
was days leading up to Sandy.
The whole campus was under lockdown
from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning, although the torment began on Monday
afternoon when our dorm lost electricity and WiFi. Unable to go out, my
roommate and I were stuck in our small room. I spent the afternoon and evening
wasting away in my bed, attempting to do work, but soon I failed and fell
asleep. Throughout Monday night, Sandy vigorously pursued the windows of the
dorm, a nine-bedroom house on the outskirt of campus.
Knock, knock, knock... it persisted
to knock and hit the windows, much like Irene did last year. Hurricane Irene
occurred during college orientation in August 2011. A new college student, both
clueless to campus and New York weather, I did not know what to expect from the
hurricane. Also it didn’t help that the window was located above my bed. During
both hurricanes, the windows continued to be assaulted by tree branches and
rain. Shadows illuminated by lightning, formed on the floor, while the blinds
consistently flapped back and forth. Both times, I felt most worried about the
windows breaking.
Finally, I woke up to find daylight
and calmness. Half of the house was still asleep. Quietly, I crept down to see
food on the kitchen table. Apparently campus officials had sent food earlier in
the morning. Though hungry and thirsty I could not get myself to eat. The
weather was freezing and I was still in survival mode. Due to lack of
electricity and wifi, I had to limit my communication to the outside world and
deny questions from family and friends from home. My folks knew everything that
had happened and constantly updated me with online articles from BBC and CNN.
As always, international media stations created big commotions regarding
natural disasters, causing panic and tension amongst overseas viewers. Covering
the worst of the tragedy, viewers’ perception skewed towards the worst
possibilities.
Back in my dorm, I decided to take a
warm shower to combat the lack of heat. Suddenly, the weather became extremely
colder. Unlike Sandy, Irene occurred in late-summer. Instead of cold, it was
humid and sticky. I did not need heat to help me get through, but now I do.
Fortunately, by mid-Tuesday the lockdown was lifted and food was served in the
main cafeteria. Without hesitation I walked down the hill to have a hot meal.
Even though, my dorm by Wednesday evening, my dorm regained power, hot water
and WiFi on Halloween day, many parts of the campus continues to be without
electricity.
My parents went through a surprising
mood wave, which I suspect relied on my attitude towards Sandy. In the
beginning, when I was nonchalant, they battered me with information, warnings
and prohibitions. However, once I got into survival mode, they backed down and
took on the supportive role. Furthermore, my take on Sandy certainly was
influenced by my experiences. In Indonesia, I had evacuated twice from my home
due to the 1998 riots and 2006 flood. Also, I had experienced several
earthquakes and other floods. My past combined with the things that my
parents had taught me and the books that I had read proved helpful in
determining my mentality through both hurricane Irene and Sandy.
In comparison to the 2011 hurricane,
Sandy was more vicious in nature as it caused more damage and created flooding
in more parts of the East Coast. Also, the college, was hit worst by the newer
hurricane as we lost power, WiFi and hot water for three days. Surviving two
hurricanes before the end of my third semester in college has certainly shaped
my mentality and made me more independent. As always, being calm yet aware is
the required when natural disaster is within the equation.
*Photos were taken from Majalah Nova and supplied by the author